Manchester City are back in Premier League action this weekend following another international break.
Saturday will see City back at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since their 1-0 win over Southampton last month.
This time around, Pep Guardiola’s side will be taking on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League.
With City having lost their four previous games, the first of which was their 2-1 defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s side in the Carabao Cup, Guardiola admitted City needed the international break to arrive when it did.
Looking ahead to this weekend’s big clash with the Lilywhites, some big behind-the-scenes details have come to light regarding one particular Spurs player and his potential availability.
Tottenham Hotspur to appeal Rodrigo Bentancur ban ahead of Man City clash
Earlier this week, Rodrigo Bentancur was sanctioned to a seven-game ban by the FA for making a racist remark about fellow Spurs teammate Son Heung-min in a live TV interview.
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The North London club have now made a statement regarding the ban and the next step they’ll be taking on the matter.
The statement, shared on the official Tottenham Hotspur website, said this on the subject.
It said: “We can confirm that the Club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s FA suspension, issued earlier this week.
“While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe.
“Rodrigo will remain suspended from domestic competitions while the appeal is heard and the Club will make no further comment during this time.”
What does this mean for City’s upcoming match against Spurs?
The seven-game ban, while allowing Bentancur to feature in the Europa League, will see the midfielder not return to domestic action until 26 December, missing Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, among others, as well as the North London club’s Carabao Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United.
Even though Spurs are looking to appeal the severity of Bentancur’s ban, the midfielder will still be banned for this weekend’s match against City.
Having completed the 90 minutes in the Cup game against the Blues last month, the Uruguayan made six clearances and five tackles in the match, highlighting his defensive capabilities.
Now that he won’t be featuring in Saturday’s game, this could make Spurs much more susceptible defensively which could work in City’s favour.